Effect of Wainan Rogo on body weight and plasma glucose in Wistar rats.

Wainan Rogo (WR) is a deep-fat fried dough made from grated fresh cassava. It was found in a cross sectional case-control study to have a risk factor 3.2 times higher in diabetic than non diabetic indigenes of Borno State of Nigeria. This study examines the chemical composition, and effects of WR on body weight and blood glucose in Wistar rats. The study found a higher fat and lower protein composition of the WR diet, and found a higher plasma glucose in the WR fed rats and a more significant weight loss in this group than in the control (CF) fed rats. The findings of this study seem to support the high risk for diabetes associated with WR in the cross sectional study. The chemical composition of WR and its effect on body weight and blood glucose are further discussed, with a call for further studies of the food as a marker in the search for the pathophysiology of Malnutrition-Related Diabetes Mellitus (MRDM).

Nutrient and nutritional evaluation of sinasin prepared in two ways.

Two types of sinasin, a rice-based fermented kanuri flat bread, were prepared and evaluated for their nutrient content and nutritional qualities. The preparation of the sinasin entailed using 'traditional' and 'developed' methods. The nutritional qualities of the products were evaluated in Wistar-strain albino rats using the Food Efficiency Ratio (FER), and Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) methods. There was a higher protein content (11.11 percent) in the traditional sinasin than in the developed sinasin (9.93 percent). However, a one-way analysis of variance indicated no significant difference in FER, but a significantly different mean PER (p < 0.01) of 1.3 and 1.5 for the traditional and developed sinasin respectively. The two methods of preparation of the sinasin, their nutrient composition and nutritional qualities are described in this paper.